On The Origin Of The Art Of "Guiding Bodhisattva" In Dunhuang

The earliest known Soul Guiding Bodhisattva Statue originates from the Dunhuang Frescos of the Late Tang and Five Dynasties’ The period of Guiyi Army.Most of the Soul Guiding Bodhisattva Statues originating from the Dunhuang area are primarily unearthed from its Sutra Caves,suggesting the first spread of the Soul Guiding Bodhisattva Faith through the general populace.After the Song Dynasty,Soul Guiding Bodhisattvas were always drawn in Water and Land Ritual paintings(the official drawing tribute to the Water and Land Society),indicating the Soul Guiding Bodhisattva’s importance in the process of Samsara.Most of the current studies on the Soul Guiding Bodhisattva focuses on the statue’s visual content and structure style,and forgoes the faith that the Soul Guiding Bodhisattva represents and the formational causes of such occurrences.Thus,this thesis’ subject of focus will be on the Dunhuang Area’s Soul Guiding Bodhisattva of the Late Tang and Five Dynasties period,and aims for the systematic exploration of such graphics in hopes of examining and determining such art pieces’ significance and its relations as the background causes of the Soul Guiding Bodhisattva faith.There are four parts in this paper.The first part starts with a small part of the Bodhisattva map with clear inscription,and makes a conceptual analysis of it,from its origin,use,form of expression to its background.The second part discusses the artistic characteristics of the image of the guiding Bodhisattva in Dunhuang,and studies the evolution process of the image composition and artistic characteristics of the guiding Bodhisattva in combination with its picture structure.In the third part,according to the religious nature of the guiding Bodhisattva,from the local Buddhist characteristics as a starting point,the social background and folk customs of that time had an impact on the emergence of the guiding Bodhisattva belief.The fourth part is to study the related beliefs before the formation of the guiding Bodhisattva belief,Guanyin belief,pure land belief,as well as the belief foundation of the Chinese local people for the concept of the world and soul after death under the influence of Buddhism.